Valley Crossing Pipeline Environmental Planning Support

SWCA served as an environmental consultant for the Valley Crossing Pipeline, which is 165 miles of 42-inch and 48-inch diameter intrastate transmission system of natural gas with pipeline service extending from Agua Dulce through five Texas counties in the USACE Galveston District to an offshore point in the Gulf of Mexico at the international boundary between the United States and Mexico. The complexity of this project required continuous federal, state, and local agency coordination over the past 18 months including but not limited to: USACE, USFWS, EPA, FERC, GLO, RRC, the Texas Department of Transportation [TxDOT], TPWD, TCEQ, NOAA-NMFS, THC, State Historic Preservation Officers, the International Boundary and Water Commission, and various counties.

SWCA conducted surveys for flora, fauna, and habitats along the proposed route with surveys of seagrasses and black mangrove in South Bay, coastal marshes, and other inter-tidal and sub-tidal environments in Cameron County. These surveys included seagrass and black mangrove surveys in and near South Bay, which required close coordination with GLO and TPWD. SWCA has coordinated with Cameron County to aid in coordination with GLO in regard to Beachfront Construction Certificate and Dune Protection Permits.

SWCA also conducted specific threatened and endangered (T&E) habitat surveys including northern aplomado falcon surveys, piping plover/red knot surveys, sensitive plants, and ocelot habitat surveys. As the pipeline was constructed, SWCA will be monitored the activities in the beach and nearshore environment including mudflat and wetland monitoring, so the project remains in compliance with USACE Regional Conditions. Per the Biological Assessment, SWCA monitored for ocelot and jaguarundi, northern aplomado falcons, whooping cranes, marine mammals, sea turtles, and piping plover/rufa red knot within the TX-1 unit which is a designated critical habitat for piping plovers (wintering habitat – not nesting habitat). SWCA also monitored for nesting birds in compliance with the MBTA.

The Valley Crossing Pipeline project contained 21 horizontal directional drills (HDD), some across large sensitive wetlands and bodies of water. Because of the location and nature of a large portion of these drills. SWCA provided UAV drone pilots to monitor HDD activity to provide quick response time. Drones were also utilized to access footprints and impacts from inadvertent returns and were able to give Enbridge a bird’s eye view of actual disturbance footprints.

Based on SWCA’s positive relationship with the USACE Galveston District, SWCA successfully permitted the 165-mile project under an NWP, and the client was able to initiate construction on the northern end of the pipeline while pre-construction notifications (PCNs) were still ongoing on the southern portion of the route. Another example of the successful agency coordination was the approval of the BA. The draft BA was submitted to USFWS in April 2017 and resulted in minimal comments. The final BA was submitted to USFWS on June 5, 2017, and received concurrence on USACE’s determination of may affect, not likely to adversely affect nine species and no take of critical habitat for the piping plover on June 19, 2017. This was a critical milestone that allowed construction to initiate on schedule.